The 2024 Yankees' five best playoff moments

Yesterday at 08:30 AM

Let's remember that we had some good times this October.

Over a week has passed since the Dodgers celebrated their eighth World Series title on the field at Yankee Stadium after coming back from a 5-0 deficit in Game 5. I am unsure what appetite fans have right now for looking back at the good times this October. I think it's fair to acknowledge that, while the team missed their golden opportunity to achieve their mission, as consistently put out by the franchise, to win it all, we can still fondly recollect the fun times from this past month.

We are committed to giving equal time in our Year in Review series to both the good and the bad of the season, so check out the top-five "low-lights" of the playoffs that will be posted later today if that's more in line with your energy right now. However, if you feel ready, here are the top five moments from team's furthest postseason run since 2009:

5. Volpe's Series-shining slam

World Series Game 4

The prevailing attitude among fans heading into Game 4 was simple: the series was likely over, but let's just not get swept. It had been 15 years since the last World Series in the Bronx and the first game back at the Stadium, Game 3, was a completely embarrassing performance. At least we got a few fond memories at the Stadium during their one win of the series.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Anthony Volpe pulled the first pitch from a soon-to-retire Daniel Hudson into stands, giving the team a 5-2 lead:

The Yankees would continue to build on the slam to win, 11-4.

Volpe was the star of the game, going 2-for-3 with a walk, scoring three runs, and stealing two bases. All in all, the shortstop put together a solid first postseason run, hitting .286 with a .407 on-base percentage over 59 plate appearances. His slam gave fans an opportunity to jump around the Stadium in the World Series and helped avoid our ultimate demise for one more day. It was nice to get the Stadium rocking on a visually frigid late-October night.

4. The Cole/Holmes/Weaver Express Train sends Yanks to ALCS

ALDS Game 4

This was a high-pressure spot for the ace. The Yankees had the 2-1 series lead, but if they failed to take care of business at Kauffman Stadium, they would face the dicey proposition of a do-or-die game with Carlos Rodón pitching after a spotty Game 2 outing. Gerrit Cole did not let that happen, however, delivering an excellent seven-inning performance — basically a complete game when adjusted for modern playoff expectations.

Cole did limp a bit to the finish line. To cap off his start in the seventh inning, Kyle Isbel's fly ball came scarily close to potentially changing the course of the series:

Clay Holmes, who had a great ALDS, came in for a clean eighth inning. Any "best of the postseason" list would be remiss to not at least mention new closer Luke Weaver, who struck out two to pick up the save.

Weaver was spectacular in the playoffs, but particularly key in the ALDS series, picking up three saves and throwing 4.1 scoreless innings.

He closed out the series with a pop fly, letting fans safely exhale after a series of tight games. Making the moment a little sweeter is that a member of the 2017 Astros, Yuli Gurriel, made the final out of the series.

3. Judge and Stanton go back-to-back off Clase

ALCS Game 3

The Yankees didn't end up winning this game, so these homers win the DJ LeMahieu-2019-Game-6-Homer-Against-the-Astros Award of "Would Have Been Immortalized in Yankee Lore if They Won" (I am workshopping a pithier name).

Game 3 was an adventure. Leading 3-1, Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt brought in closer Emmanuel Clase in the eighth inning to face the heart of the Yankees order. The one thing we all knew about the Guardians is that if you do not have the lead late in the game, you are in deep trouble given their great bullpen. The stage was set for Aaron Judge however, with a runner on to have to finally get his clutch postseason moment, tag-teaming with Giancarlo Stanton:

It was a booming comeback against a pitcher who held a 0.61 ERA and had given up just two home runs in the entire regular season. In a flash, Clase turned out to be fallible for the second time in 10 days, and the Yankees had the lead. The game ended in walk-off heartbreak, but wow, this was a fun sequence.

2. Stanton puts finishing touches on ALCS MVP

ALCS Game 5

Stanton this postseason was like watching a basketball player like Steph Curry or Caitlin Clarke get hot with threes, with each three they hit the excitement and joy doubles in size because you are witnessing someone that is just completely locked in. Stanton homered seven times in the postseason, and each time he did, the sheer disbelief of his overall playoff performance added to the excitement of the moment. We could have done a top-five list of playoff Stanton blasts, but this one to tie the game off a previously pristine Tanner Bibee, will serve as the representative for his big homers:

The reaction shot of Volpe sitting on top the dugout fence with Austin Wells face of disbelief is great. The ease for Stanton from his swing to hit a 446-foot homer will never get old. If someone was watching baseball for the first time this ALCS, they would be certain that Stanton is considered the best player in baseball with how easy homers seemed to be for him. The home run had the second highest wins probability added for the game, shifting the Yankees to 25.1 percent in their favor, and setting the table for the No. 1 moment to happen in extras.

1. Soto wins the pennant with a bomb

ALCS Game 5

Juan Soto stepped up to bat in a tie game in extra innings of ALCS Game 5 with two runners on base. He put on an epic battle, seeing seven pitches, including spoiling four consecutive foul balls. Then, in no one's definition of a hitter-friendly pitch, he barreled a ball to dead center:

Take away the fact that this homer pushed the Yankees to the World Series, and it was an incredible piece of hitting. He kept fighting off foul balls and took a pitch that was 95 mph, high and away in the zone, and shot it to center. If you want to read a pitch-by-pitch breakdown of the epic battle, check out our Peter Brody's At-Bat of the Week breaking it down. It's up for debate: is it sweeter to get a home crowd rocking or to silence a road crowd? Well, this video the Yankees' social media posted the next day was pretty sweet:

Fans got to live off the jolt of this home run for a few days before the World Series kicked off. What you really take away from this moment is Soto's absolute confidence in the moment. Big moments are scared of Juan Soto.

"I was all over it, I was all over it," Soto told the TBS broadcast. "That was the only thing I was thinking. I was just saying to myself, 'You're all over that guy. You're all over that guy.' ... I just had to make good contact, and I did."

You could tell rewatching the at-bat that none of that was bluster. Eight-time All-Pro NFL defensive tackle Aaron Donald has a catchy quote that I like to say: "big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games."

As we know as fans, Juan Soto is a big-time player.

Some great defensive plays were left on the cutting room floor. Like Alex Verdugo's catch while flying head first into the stands in the 10th inning of Game 1 of the World Series, or Aaron Judge's leaping catch in the fateful Game 5 of that series. At the end of the day, home runs rule this list because the long ball are the moments that shift the game's monument. As such, Stanton's ALDS Game 3 go-ahead missile in Kansas City will be fondly recalled as well.

While the disappointment of the World Series may dampen the memories built from the first two series, I hope fans can, some day, remember fondly some of the awesome times we had to get the Fall Classic.